Irish Open in jeopardy
The Irish Open golf tournament is in big trouble now that a very crucial sponsor of the event has backed out. The mobile operator ‘3’ has decided not to refresh its title sponsorship of the event. Even though the contractors signed the deal for three years
in March 2009, they found a loophole and decided to back out.
The company took advantage of the opt-out clause in the contract and decided to dissolve it. Robert Finnegan, the chief executive of the ‘3’ Ireland gave the news directly to the European Tour chief, George O’Grady. He declared on Friday that now they are
more inclined towards football. ‘3’ will be focusing more on its endorsement for the Irish football team because they think that football will provide more commercial value and thus more profit to the brand.
This year in August, 3 announced an agreement with the FAI of a four-year primary sponsorship of the Irish football team. This contract is worth a good €7.5m. Now with its primary sponsor out of the picture, the event could be going through some crisis.
The signing of the agreement came only five days after the Irish Open. The Irish Open held in Killarney this year really showed that the event has regained its reputation as an atmospheric and popular event on the European Tour. This year English Ross Fisher
defeated Padraig Harrington to win what’s Irish golf’s biggest prize.
"Following a review of its sponsorship portfolio, a decision was taken to streamline activities. '3' believes its support of the Irish football team will deliver the most commercial value for the brand into the future," the company stated.
For some reason, The Irish Open has always been a victim of financial crisis. This event is an important part of the European Tour and is played in May every year. The first time it was played in 1927 and then persisted up till 1950, then it was stopped
because of economic hindrances. From 2007 to 2009, the Adare Golf Club took responsibility of hosting the Irish Open; however, in 2009 it was taken over by 3 Mobile. The transition came because Adare couldn’t handle the losses that incurred while hosting the
event.
Now with ‘3’ not sponsoring the tournament, the chances of finding a new sponsor look very grim. With the economic recession in Ireland and all around the world, the European Tour Officials are hoping they can figure out a solution for the event to take
place in 2011.
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